Author Profile: Ishtiaq Ahmad

About Ishtiaq Ahmad

Ishtiaq Ahmad is Quaid-i-Azam Fellow at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford and an Associate Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. Also a Fulbright Fellow, he has published extensively on South Asian security and conflict in Afghanistan, including a biographical study, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: An Afghan Trail from Jihad to Terrorism. During his former career as a journalist, Dr Ahmad reported the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan and conflict in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.

Madness over the Himalayas: Time to demilitarise the Siachen Glacier

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Ishtiaq Ahmad

For nearly three decades, India and Pakistan have engaged in a maddening conflict over Siachen Glacier in the Himalyan peaks of the disputed Kashmir region. The “world’s highest battlefield” has claimed thousands of lives due to hostile weather conditions—frostbite, avalanches … Continue reading →

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Is Pakistan a bigger problem than Afghanistan? A critical appraisal of Ahmed Rashid’s ‘Pakistan on the Brink’

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Ishtiaq Ahmad

Ahmed Rashid, the veteran Pakistani writer on the conflict in Afghanistan and Central Asia, has authored another book, titled Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A sequel to his four earlier books on the subject … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Books, International Relations, Terrorism and Security | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Afghanistan’s human rights gains are too precious to compromise

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Ishtiaq Ahmad

Compared to the Taliban era of the 1990s, Afghanistan has made impressive gains in the sphere of human rights, especially women’s rights. The Afghan constitution prohibits discrimination between citizens “whether man or woman”. Consequently, Afghan women have a visible presence … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Economic Development, Fragile and Post Conflict States, International Institutions, International Relations, Terrorism and Security | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The seeds of a green spring: young leaders meet in Oxford to debate Pakistan’s future

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Ishtiaq Ahmad

For three days (February 3-5) Oxford University was the venue for the Pakistan Future Leaders’ Conference (PFLC), attended by some 300 student-delegates hailing from around 50 universities and colleges in the United Kingdom. This major event was organised by Oxford … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Democracy and Elections, Fragile and Post Conflict States, International Relations, Political Science, Terrorism and Security | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment